


A Sorceress and a Magician Walk Into a Bar

by starmie



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gwen and Nerris are Sisters, Gwenvid Kinda Takes the Backseat, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, definitely not as slow as the nerrison tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 11:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13188933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starmie/pseuds/starmie
Summary: When David convinces Gwen’s sister, Nerris, that there is a boy at Camp Campbell that shares her interest in magic, she’s overjoyed. After discovering that Harrison likes the “wrong” kind of magic, they quickly become rivals. However, after learning more about each other and spending high school and college together, they become the best of friends, and soon lovers.





	A Sorceress and a Magician Walk Into a Bar

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place from a year before the events of the show to adulthood, with all their awkward teenage glory in between. It’s that kind of slow burn.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Gwen! I finished your character sheet, can I come in?" A high voice with a lisp said from behind her bedroom door. 

She thought for a second. "Yeah, come in, I'm on a Skype call though." 

A dark-skinned girl walked into the room, wearing elf ears and a wizard (thorcereth!) hat. She handed Gwen a color-coded piece of paper. "I made sure your vampire boy wasn't too OP, but I did make him handsome, as per your request." She turned the sheet around and saw an anime boy with fangs, obviously traced.

The man on the Skype call coughed nervously. "Oh! David! This is my younger sister, Nadya. That's her familial name, though, her elven name is Nerris." Gwen introduced.

Nerris stared at Gwen's dim laptop. She saw a redheaded man beaming at her with the light from his computer practically refracting off his pale skin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nerris! I'm David, Gwen's co-counselor!"

"Hail and well met, David." Nerris said kindly. She leaned closer into frame, draping herself over Gwen's purple beanbag chair. 

The older sister shoved her off, adjusting the laptop so the both of them fit. "So, Nerris, have you ever thought of joining Camp Campbell? I think you'd really fit in there." The man asked.

Nerris scrunched her face up to think. "Are there any camps dedicated to my favorite hobbies? DND, Lord of the Rings, Magic...."

David suddenly interrupted her. "We have a magic camp! Harrison loves magic, I'm sure you'd hit it off great!" He said in a chipper voice.

"Uh, David, I'm not sure that's the right type of magic." Gwen responded quietly. Neither of them heard her though, and Nerris' face was lit up like a Christmas tree. 

Her mind was totally somewhere else. "There's a boy...who likes the same things... I do..." 

Gwen put her head in her hands, exhaling loudly. "I gotta go, David. She went full romance anime protagonist and I have to snap her out of it. I hope you figure your shit out though." She smiled into the camera, and watched David's face turn to hers as she ended the call and turned off the laptop.

She gently tossed it onto the ground. She grabbed her younger sister by the sleeve of her shirt and sat with her on the bed. "Nadya, snap out of it." Gwen said firmly.

Nerris began to regain some lucidity. "Tell me about Harrison." She asked, still unable to focus her vision on anything.

"Umm..." she drummed her fingers on her lap. "This'll be his second year at Camp Campbell. He's a nice kid, a little pretentious, but he uh, really likes magic." 

Gwen had to choose her words carefully. She hated to disappoint her baby sister. Maybe it would be better for her to find out he's not that kind of magic kid anyway. 

"What's his race?" Nerris asked.

The older sister was a little taken aback with this question. "I think he's Israeli? That's a weird question." Gwen said.

Nerris shook her head. "No, like his fantasy race! Gnome, orc, halfling, dragonborn, human..." She began to list off the races.

"Human, I think." 

The younger sister put her finger to her cheek in thought. "Boring but dependable. I like it!" Nerris said with a grin.

Gwen was beginning to lose interest in the conversation, reaching over to her nightstand to grab her phone. She had received a text from David. "Hope you figured everything out with Nariss ☺️! Nairis?" 

She texted back the correct spelling and sighed slightly. David was always so happy. She wished she could have met him outside of camp, because she was always at her worst at camp. 

"I'm going to go tell Dad to sign me up for Camp Campbell!" Nerris proclaimed, jumping down from Gwen's bed and running down to the kitchen.

Gwen leaned back to stare at the ceiling. She loved her baby sister, really, but she was worried the other campers would make fun of her. All of them were losers, except Ered, but Nerris was a whole different brand of nerd. At least she'd be there to protect her.

•• 

Nerris and Gwen were driving upstate bright and early to Camp Campbell. They had compiled a playlist for the trip earlier that week, a bonding activity they both enjoyed. With a combination of the Zelda soundtrack and Maroon 5's early hits, it made for a great trip.

"So, Nad, do you think you're going to tell the camp you're my little sister?" Gwen asked, not fully focused on the empty highway. 

Nerris thought about it. "What do you think Harrison would think?"

The older sister gave her something halfway between a laugh and a sigh. "I don't think he'd care." She said.

"I'll play it cool then." The sorceress pushed the hair out of her eyes. "By the way, do you think our ship name would be Herris or Nerrison?" 

Gwen turned on cruise control and turned up the music a little bit. "Uh, Nerrison. Have you been thinking about this the whole time?" The driver teased.

Nerris didn't answer, crossing her arms to pout and turning to face outside the window. There wasn't much to see, just an empty highway in the middle of nowhere with a car passing them every three minutes. The pine trees blew around in the morning wind. 

After ten minutes of silent driving, Gwen turned into an easy-to-miss dirt path. The lake was visible through the parts in the trees and the early sun reflected off it into the car. She drove behind the camp, which Nerris was examining intently. "It's not much." Gwen said dryly, turning off the music. 

"I'm sure hanging out with Harrison will make it all the more tolerable." Nerris swooned.

The counselor gritted her teeth. "Don't get your hopes up, N. He's just a boy. And boys are oftentimes disappointing." She meant to give advice, but began reminiscing about her exes. "Anyways, we're here."

The two got out of the car and saw David standing cheerily with his hands on his hips. Hearing them coming, he turned around to hug Gwen. She pushed him away.

"Sorry, I forgot. No hugs." The redhead frowned for a second, but went back to his original stance. "Are you excited for your third year as counselor?" He asked.

Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I like getting paid." 

David turned to face Nerris, offering a hand to shake. She shook it, taking a mental note of his characteristics. He was really lanky, and possibly the palest person Nerris had ever seen. Almost like a vampire?

"A better question would be if Nerris is excited for her first year as a camper! Are you?" David's eyes were twinkling.

The elf girl nodded enthusiastically.

Gwen laughed a little. "God, David, ever since you mentioned Harrison he's all she can talk about."

Nerris protested with an embarrassed groan. She crossed her arms and turned away from her older sister, but she couldn't deny the truth.

"Well, his mom's email said he'd be arriving early in a black cherry Nissan." David recalled.

The sorceress turned to face the dirt road, channeling some sort of magical energy to make him arrive faster. She whispered something in Hebrew.

Gwen exhaled sharply. "Tell me about the new kids. I forgot to check the roster." She said, looking up at David.

"Oh!" He picked up a clipboard and looked at the names. "Besides Nerris, there's a kid named Dolph. He's an artist, apparently!" 

Gwen nodded, hoping the kid wouldn't be too much a handful. With her luck though, he would probably be worse than Max.

A few minutes passed and Nerris suddenly shouted out something indistinct. It was a black cherry Nissan. 

"Gwen, how do I look?" She asked as the car slowly pulled closer.

Gwen fixed her little hat and untucked her yellow shirt. "Same as always, dork. Remember that you've been idolizing him for several weeks and that no matter what he's not going to turn out like you imagine. Love you." 

The car parked in front of the camp. An anxious-looking woman stepped out, holding a bright red duffel bag. She looked through the backseat passenger window and slowly opened the door. Harrison's mother ran over to Gwen and David to sign the papers, and ran back into her car as soon as he got out. Once all of Harrison’s luggage was with him, she drove as quickly as she could out of there.

“Hi, Harrison! Welcome back.” David said cheerily. He responded with a small groan, shoving his luggage over to the cabins.

Nerris twiddled her thumbs anxiously, waiting for him to come back so that she could introduce herself. “Harrison, I’d like you to meet Nerris. She’s a new camper this year, and she’s going to be joining you in magic camp!” The redhead continued with a grin.

Gwen could tell her little sister was nervous, but she couldn’t guess if she would totally freeze or talk too much and embarrass herself. 

“Oh, it’s super nice to meet you! I’m glad there’s someone around here who shares my interests.” Harrison said in a voice full of charisma.

Nerris had no idea what Gwen was talking about when his car pulled in. He was very good-looking and nice, not gross like most guys that liked fantasy. He was exactly what she imagined. “Yeah, me too! It’s good you’re handsome—“ She cut herself off. “I mean, what? I didn’t say anything.”

The boy laughed awkwardly. “So, what’s your best trick? Mine is this.” Harrison covered his mouth with four fingers, making a kissing noise as a full-sized garden gnome fell out of his hand and onto the ground. It spun around on its hat like a top before disappearing.

The girl applauded wildly, impressed with his spellcasting ability. “Oh, I’d love to show you Sleet Storm, it’s a third-level conjuration, but my staff is in my sister’s car.” Nerris explained, much to Harrison’s confusion.

“I get it, you’re the kind of magician that likes to use props. You don’t have to use anything special, we’re both professionals here.” 

The elf looked at him skeptically. “I wouldn’t consider myself a magician, I’m a sorceress. I guess I could show you a cantrip, which do you prefer?” She asked.

Harrison’s eyes darkened as the realization hit him. “Are you talking about Dungeons and Dragons?” He responded with all charisma in his voice replaced with almost malice.

“Yeah, aren’t you?”

The boy practically lunged forward at her, which caught the attention of David who rushed over as fast as he could. “That’s not real magic, idiot!” The brunet yelled as his top hat flew off his head. 

Nerris’ blood was boiling as she clenched her fists together, staring daggers at Harrison. “Of course it’s real magic! You’re just doing tricks!” She screamed.

David peeled them apart with his long arms and told them firmly to stand on the other side of the camp from each other. Nerris ran to her older sister, clinging to her waist in the only time Gwen would accept and return a hug.

“Come on, Nad. Don’t be too disappointed. I told you men were unreliable dirtbags.” Gwen mumbled as she stroked the kid’s hair. The younger sister didn’t respond, holding back tears.

She sniffled and spoke after a few minutes of prolonged silence. “I thought he would be different. I thought I’d finally found someone who wouldn’t pick on me for my interests. I guess you were right.”

Gwen walked her over to the counselor cabin and sat with her on David’s squeaky bed. “I didn’t want to be right, Nadya, I really didn’t.” She said sadly, stroking her on the head. 

“Can you take me back home? I don’t think I want to be in Camp Camp anymore. I wanna go home.” Nerris decided, the last of her tears wiped up with 1ply tissue.

The older sibling wrapped her arm around her sister. “Sorry, kiddo. Dad already paid. Cameron makes it nonrefundable. I wish I could.” 

The sorceress looked defeated. She took off her hat and the elf ear inserts and Gwen shoved them into David’s bedside table. “I bet someone new is here. Do you want to go out and act like your normal self?” Gwen offered.

Nerris took a deep breath. “I am Nerris the Cute, the best spellcaster on Faerun, Middle-earth, and Hogwarts!” She yelled as if it were a battle cry. 

“Yeah you are!”

She tucked her elbows in and looked to the ceiling, as if she was being imbued with magical power. “I had my feelings hurt, but those feelings don’t define me! I define me! I am Nerris!” 

Gwen cheered loudly. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, also somewhat inspired by the speech.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Nerris responded. The sisters opened the door to the cabin and returned back to the outside, ready to face the rest of the day together.


End file.
